Oracle Co. (ORCL) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.50 on April 23rd

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, March 10th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of 0.50 per share by the enterprise software provider on Wednesday, April 23rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This is a 25.0% increase from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40.

Oracle has raised its dividend payment by an average of 7.7% per year over the last three years. Oracle has a dividend payout ratio of 19.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Oracle to earn $5.61 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 28.5%.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of ORCL stock opened at $144.29 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $403.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $166.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $169.62. Oracle has a 12-month low of $112.78 and a 12-month high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The business’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.41 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Oracle will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ORCL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho increased their target price on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Oracle presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.92.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total transaction of $389,448,893.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. The trade was a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oracle

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Oracle stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 189.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 153,580 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 100,494 shares during the period. Oracle comprises about 0.7% of Brighton Jones LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $25,593,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Oracle

Oracle Corporation offers products and services that address enterprise information technology environments worldwide. Its Oracle cloud software as a service offering include various cloud software applications, including Oracle Fusion cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP), Oracle Fusion cloud enterprise performance management, Oracle Fusion cloud supply chain and manufacturing management, Oracle Fusion cloud human capital management, Oracle Cerner healthcare, Oracle Advertising, and NetSuite applications suite, as well as Oracle Fusion Sales, Service, and Marketing.